Obama plan excites S. Florida educators

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Miami Herald

South Florida educators welcomed a national plan to invest in struggling schools.
By KATHLEEN McGRORY
[e-mail]

South Florida educators are applauding a new White House initiative to invest more money into the nation's lowest-performing schools.

The new strategy, announced Monday, will pump $900 million into grants available for perennially failing schools if approved by Congress.

The schools will be required to take dramatic steps -- like replacing principals and teachers -- toward improving student performance.

``If a school is struggling, we have to work with the principal and the teachers to find a solution,'' President Barack Obama said.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/02/1507489/obama-plan-excites-s-florida-educators.html

[ipaint]

1. 2 superintendents and a commissioner.

Where are the interviews with the teachers, students, parents, and communities these schools service. How thrilled are they with obama's slash and burn republican policies regarding the privatization of the public school system.

[rpannier]

2. Teachers??? Students??? Parents???

Who are they???

Now 2 Superintendents and a Commissioner - Wow!. I mean, the word SUPER is in the title.

:sarcasm:

[saigon68]

3. Union Busting of the last decent union

Disgusting

[Sancho]

4. Take it from an educator who lives here - that article is misleading!

The administrators want more dollars (and many of our central offices are top-heavy with high-paid idiots). The money will never get to the schools that need it - these folks will give it to private companies to manage "charter" schools, they will spend millions on contracts for materials that they sell to the schools, and they will replace good teachers with young, idealistic, and ineffective placeholders who don't last long in the classroom because they are unprepared. They will take new money and create "white flight" schools for the gated communities.

Florida educators are so excited by the federal plan, that only four districts in the state signed on to the state plan! My wife is in her 33rd year of teaching - five college degrees and three are not in education. She has taken cocaine and a gun off of elementary students in the last decade. She buys things for the class almost weekly. She works every day with kids who have cerebral palsy, diabetes, autism, and numerous serious disabilities. A medical professional would make twice the salary and have all kinds of expensive equipment. Medical professionals would not have to try and teach them to read, write, and sing with 30-40 kids crowded into a small room.

The teacher salary here is about the same as a new graduate from the college where I teach for many majors except for education. When my wife's school won bonuses as an "A" school, the teachers voted to split the dollars (including the janitors and lunch staff) evenly. The legislature and feds don't get it - if you actually gave money to front line professionals to use for instruction, you could make a difference. The teachers don't work for bonuses like Wall Street. Teachers just want a living wage that makes sense for their efforts and a good environment for learning.

Many of the kids in public schools need tutoring, longer school years, someone who can speak their language, medical care (many don't ever see a doctor, dentist, or get glasses), and basic educational enrichment that some people have at home. They need preschool and kindergarten and a fair shot at higher education. If you want to see a "white" college - walk across the campus at UF! Not exactly a reflection of a population where less than half the state is actually white. The majority of HS students know that their chance to get into the best state college is zero.

I left the public schools due to salary years ago, and both of us worked extra jobs when we both were public school teachers just to pay the bills. In Florida, the only school districts that don't have lots of turnover are ones with excellent collective bargaining agreements. From kindergarten to universities, the support for education that made the "greatest generation" is gone. My parents were first generation college (GI Bill) and we need to get off this "competitive" test score kick and start funding good schools instead of funding more CEO's and private thieves.

[nvme]

5. its a sad state in the sunshine state.

I actually have a regular patron who is thinking of working as a waiter. he complains that in his 15th year of teaching, the pittance is so meager that his only choice is to work in my industry. Pretty sad. The teachers were screwed out of a contracted raise only days before the start of the school year. Our schools do poorly because our school system is top heavy and no resources are allocated for the front line equipment or teachers.

[Dr.Phool]

6. I guess Madfloridian wasn't at the meeting.

She would have kicked his ass.